


I Took The Long Way Home (And That Has Made All The Difference)

by SmoleWritey



Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Canon Lesbian Character, Coming Out, Coming of Age, F/F, First Kiss, Friends to Lovers, Getting Together, Internalized Homophobia, Kya is a Good Thing, Light Angst, Lin Beifong Deserves Good Things, Miscommunication, Self-Discovery, Time Skips, kya-centric
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-08
Updated: 2021-01-09
Packaged: 2021-03-09 01:15:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,864
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27446233
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SmoleWritey/pseuds/SmoleWritey
Summary: Over the years, the road that lead Kya towards Lin, away from her, and back again when the time was right.
Relationships: Kyalin, Lin Beifong/Kya II
Comments: 14
Kudos: 60
Collections: Femslash Exchange 2020, Kyalin, Legend of korra





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [hmweasley](https://archiveofourown.org/users/hmweasley/gifts).



**9 years old**

Kya had started her waterbending lessons in the winter. As her fledgling skill slowly improved, the winter came and went, and the first few warm days broke through the ground in Republic City. Today, Lin would begin her first formal earthbending lesson, and Kya and Katara sat at the sidelines to watch.

Kya was excited for her friend. Ever since they had discovered their bending together, they had dreamed of becoming seasoned benders like their parents. Lin had been upset when Kya got to start her training first, but now she would have a chance to catch up, and Kya wanted to be there to see her as she took that first step.

Kya watched intently as Lin took a wide-based fighting stance next to her mother.

“An earthbender has to be tough and firm, like the earth,” Toph said sternly. “Your stance is the first step. Keep your center of gravity low. To move an immovable entity like the earth, you have to be immovable yourself.”

The master earthbender walked around her pupil, pushing to test for weaknesses. She smiled briefly. “Good.”

From her place at the edge of the grass, Kya smiled too. Of course Lin would get it right away. There was nothing that didn’t come to her easily, nothing that didn’t bend to her will. Kya felt a flash of pride for her friend.

“Do you feel the earth beneath you?”

Lin nodded.

“Not just with your feet, but with your bending. Feel it intrinsically.”

Lin nodded again, completely focused.

“Now, I want to focus on a small part of that ground, visualize it separating from the rest. Now pull it towards you. Like this.” Toph demonstrated the basic form and pulled a chunk out of the ground in front of her. “Now you try.”

Lin closed her eyes, centering herself. Kya held her breath. In one swift and sure motion, Lin slid one leg, planted the other, and punched up, taking a small chunk out of the earth. A moment later, she released control, letting the chunk fall down with a triumphant grin.

Kya’s mother chucked beside her. “Lin is already proving to be a far better student than your father was.” She turned to see her daughter frozen and wide-eyed. “Um, sweetie, are you ok?”

Kya could not hold back her admiration, her eyes and voice overflowing with it. “Mom, she’s so strong and beautiful. I bet dad thought you were strong and beautiful too when you did your bending. Do you think I could marry her like Dad married you?”

Katara’s eyes widened imperceptibly before she gathered Kya gently in her arms. “Oh baby, you’re a little young to get married, but when you’re old enough, you can marry whoever you want.”

Satisfied with the answer, Kya refocused her attention on the lesson going on in front of her. Katara’s attention remained on her daughter as she puzzled out her words. In the end, no matter what Kya had meant, Katara’s words were true. She would love and protect her daughter to the ends of the earth. With that thought, she held her daughter closer to her chest.

* * *

**14 years old**

Kya sat at the edge of the classroom, staring distractedly out the window. If you asked her, the fact that she wasn’t paying attention to the history lesson was not her fault. Uncle Sokka had told her this story so many times. Her parents had _been_ there during the seige of the Northern Water Tribe. The way Uncle Sokka told the story, her dad had gotten kidnapped while trying to do “Avatar spirit stuff” and they had to “rescue his sorry ass, water tribe style.” The way her teacher told it, Avatar Aang had bravely taken on the entire fleet of Fire Navy ships, saving the Northern Water Tribe single-handedly. Kya supposed that the truth could be found somewhere in the middle.

As she sat lost in her thoughts, she noticed a group of students in their gym uniforms heading outside the school to the training grounds, just in view of her window. She scanned the group quickly and smiled when her eyes landed on Lin. A pleasant surprise. She wondered if she could do something to get her best friend’s attention. Sneaking a glance to the front of the room, she noted that her teacher was turned firmly towards the board and droning on, with no danger of seeing her if she was quiet. She slowly uncapped her waterskin, bent a tendril of water towards her, and slipped it quietly out the open window.

Just as she was doing so, the gym class started in on their warm-ups. Lin bent into a stretch, her strong arms flexing. Her posture steady and solid as the motion pushed her back muscles into definition. Kya felt like someone had waterbent all the moisture out of her mouth. A shiver ran through her. In her moment of weakness, she lost control of the bubble of water she had been bending and it crashed directly into Lin at full force, soaking her hair and shirt.

The young earthbender was shocked into a fighting stance, looking around wildly before she met eyes with Kya across the courtyard. She glared and threw up her arms as if to say _what the hell_?

Kya played it off with a grin and a small wave. Lin, having been familiar with her antics for their whole lives, just rolled her eyes and flipped her off.

Kya turned back to the board and the lecture as quickly as she could without seeming suspicious. Her cheeks _burned_. Her mind played back the image of Lin’s powerful body on a loop.

 _What the hell_.

From that moment on, it felt like she had been possessed by a spirit. Lin would quirk an eyebrow at her or touch her casually in conversation, and her stomach would flip. When they would spar and she got distracted, Lin would knock her onto her back, leaving Kya to stare helplessly at the flushed, sweaty girl above her. _Too close_. _Too much_.

It was a while before she finally came to terms with what these new feelings meant for her. That none of the boys she knew made her gut twist pleasantly the way Lin did. It was a little longer before she would knock on her parents’ door after dinner to seek their help and advice, more nervous than she had ever been in her life.

“Mom, dad, there’s something I need to talk to you about.”

And everything would be okay.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kya asks Lin on a date. Well, not in so many words exactly. But she probably gets the gist, right?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'll update soon, I said, like a liar.  
> This is just going to be a short 1000 word fic, I said, also like a liar.

**21 years old**

The Beifong residence sat tucked away in the corner of one of Republic City’s less busy streets. Meant as a reprieve from the constant work of the police station and the inconvenience of fame, it was bracketed on both sides by tall trees, enough to keep the sun from scorching too hot in the summer months. It was under the shade of these trees that Kya found herself pacing restlessly. Her hands fidgeted as she tried to calm and center herself the way she would before a fight. She was not planning to fight anyone, but with all her training, a fight might be less nerve-wracking. She didn’t have any training for what she was planning to do.

She marched back and forth, muttering to herself forcefully.

“You are Kya of Air Temple Island, master waterbender, daughter of Avatar Aang and Katara of the Southern Water Tribe.”

She turned back.

“You are not some helplessly pining loser.”

Turn.

“You are going to tell Lin how you feel.”

Turn.

“You are going to ask her on a proper date.”

Another turn.

“And everything is going to be fine!” She said convincingly, ignoring the note of manic desperation that had crept into her voice.

Kya’s frame sagged. She had been through all the stages of grief at this point. Tried telling herself her feelings would go away. Tried ignoring them. Tried dating other girls. Finally, she had just accepted them for what they were, and was ready to do _something_ about them, if only to shake the feeling of inertia.

Squaring her shoulders, she marched up to the door. It was now or never.

However, before she could raise her hand to knock the door was thrown open.

“My god, the way your pacing was digging a hole into the ground, I thought you were a baby badgermole!” Dressed in full metalbender regalia, standing in the doorway with her arms crossed, was the Chief of Police herself, Toph Beifong. Or, perhaps more importantly at this moment, Lin’s mother. Kya gaped, her thoughts askew.

“Well? Are you just going to stand there like an overgrown hog-monkey or are you going to come in?” Toph demanded.

“Uh- I- I was just…” Kya smiled sheepishly. “Yes, Auntie.” The chief of police stepped aside to allow the young waterbender to enter.

“Lin will be home from the station soon,” Toph stated as Kya sat down on the couch. A frown crept onto her face. “Your heart is racing like you just ran here, which I know you didn’t, because I could feel you pacing outside for the past ten minutes. What’s your deal?”

Kya started. Tui and La, the woman was scarily perceptive sometimes, and with no sensitivity to boot.

“I’m fine, Auntie!” She squeaked.

“Fine, don’t tell me. I’m making some calming Jasmine tea.” Toph made for the kitchen.

“You don’t have to do that!” Kya protested.

“It’s more for me than for you, kid!” Called the receding voice. Kya smiled, seeing through the flimsy excuse. Auntie Toph could be prickly, but she was all care and concern underneath. If you asked Kya, Lin had inherited a small fraction of that prickliness, with all that same warmth.

When Toph returned the sitting room, they sipped the tea and talked. Toph asked about Kya’s new healing apprenticeship. After learning everything she could from her mother, Kya had decided to spread her wings and practice under another waterbender healer in Republic City. So far, the experience had been wonderful, but she still felt like whatever had been missing from her life before the shift was still missing, and she wanted to try something new.

Toph snorted. “Forgot what it’s like to be so young. I used to have all this restless wanderlust, stuck in Gaoling in my parents’ house. Then I ran away with the Avatar, traveled all over the place, saved the world once or twice, and that itch kind of went away.” Toph paused, frowning. “Not that I’m recommending running away from home or anything. Ok, kid? Sugar Queen would kill me for putting that idea in your head.”

Kya shook with laughter. The soothing tea and conversation had melted away her earlier tension and anxiety. She was grateful to have run into Auntie Toph after all.

When Lin finally came home, grumbling about upstart gangs making trouble, Kya waved at her happily from the couch.

“Kya!” Lin’s normally stoic face shifted into a slight smile. “I didn’t know you were coming by! Not that I’m complaining.”

“Oh, I was just around, and I thought I’d come see you” Kya replied with a casual front. Her nerves were returning slowly, fluttering in her stomach, but she pushed through. “And I wanted to ask you something.”

Lin looked at her curiously, “Alright, let me get changed out of my uniform first. Just because I can bend metal doesn’t make it a comfortable outfit.”

A few minutes later, Lin emerged wearing a fitted sleeveless green shirt and loose dark green pants. Kya did her best to school her features but couldn’t stop her eyes from snapping directly to the other girl’s toned arms. Guru help her, Lin’s physique was a gift to anyone with eyes, but it was not helping her concentrate here. Kya’s palms started sweating slightly and she wiped them surreptitiously on her dress. The sofa shifted as Lin plopped down beside the poor waterbender, blissfully unaware of her inner struggle.

“Damn, officer, those should come with a warning: armed and dangerous,” Kya blurted, face reddening as soon as she did so. _Goddamnit_. Healing a third degree burn wound? No problem. Asking out her best-friend/crush? Human trash fire. “Uh… I mean…”

Lin just snorted and rolled her eyes in what Kya chose to interpret as a fond gesture. “Very funny, Ky.” Then she gave Kya a sidelong glance and smirk, reclining with her arms resting behind her head and flexing subtly. “You think so?”

Kya choked on air, flushing even harder. Lin laughed heartily and when Kya managed to catch her breath, she joined in.

“Why are you like this?” Kya gasped, shoving her friend sideways on the couch.

“You started it! And it’s not my fault you’re so easy to rile up.” Lin shot back with a self-satisfied grin.

It was moments like these where Kya thought that Lin might already know the things that Kya most wanted to tell her. Not only that, but that she might even, against all odds, be receptive to Kya’s feelings. But hope was one thing, and truth was another. As much as she wanted to believe, she had to keep her wits about her, until she could find out for sure.

“Anyway, you said you wanted to talk to me about something?” Lin asked, and Kya jolted like she’d been shocked.

Right.

_I like you._

_Go out with me._

_Do you want to go on a date with me?_

“Do you want to go to the Lights Festival with me?”

Lin cocked her head. “Well yeah, we do that every year. Who else would I go with?”

 _No, like_ with _me! As a date!_

“Oh, uh, I meant…” _As a date._ “I just wasn’t sure if you would have to work this year! Now that you’re a detective!” _Goddamnit_.

Lin, oblivious as usual to her internal monologue, gave her a small reassuring smile. “Well, I picked up a couple of extra shifts and kept the day free. It’ll be you and me, like always.”

 _You and me, like always_. Warmth flooded Kya at those words. She could feel her resolve slipping, the moment so perfect that she didn’t dare risk ruining it. She smiled back happily. She would tell Lin soon enough.

When Kya descended the steps of Air Temple Island to meet up with Lin, she almost tripped over her feet at the sight before her. Lin was wearing a pressed dark green shirt, sleeves rolled up over her forearms and undone at the top just enough for her collarbones to peek through. The shirt accentuated the lines of Lin’s body as she leaned against a post with her hands resting in the pockets of tailored black pants. Kya took a deep breath to center herself and called out.

“Lin! You look…” _Good enough to eat_. “Amazing!”

Lin looked up at her and faltered for a moment, her face going through a tiny blink-and-you-miss-it series of expressions before she responded, “You don’t look so bad yourself, Ice Princess.”

Kya beamed, and they went on their way.

The Festival of Light was a newer tradition, unique to the United Republic. It was a celebration the benders and nonbenders from all nations coming together to form a new nation where they could coexist in harmony. A celebration of the fire nation colonies and their fraught history transforming into a symbol of enduring peace and hope for the future. Kya loved everything that it represented, yes, but she also loved the beauty of the festival itself.

Kya dragged Lin through the crowded streets, weaving between the crowd and the booths excitedly like they were still kids. They stopped to buy some seal jerky seasoned with fire flakes, Kya’s favorite among the fusion fair food. The two walked along as they ate, admiring the collection of artifacts and plants from all corners of the world. When Kya stopped short, longingly eyeing a rare scroll about the application of earthbending techniques to ice for waterbenders, Lin rolled her eyes, counted her change, and successfully haggled for it. Kya couldn’t stop smiling as she clutched it tight to her chest.

In return, Kya bought herself and Lin two tiny oil lamps. Alongside their other wares, almost every booth sold a collection of these lamps, the original symbol of the Lights Festival. The lamp itself made of clay, holding a flame when lit. In each, a tiny world of earth and fire, representing the two nations that had originally come together to form the United Republic. They found a firebender to light them and placed them in the center of the square with countless others, two tiny flames burning side by side.

At the end of the night, they sat together at the waterfront, watching as lanterns floated out into the water and up into the air one by one, slowly filling the bay with thousands of dots of light. The warm air circled around them, carrying the scent of fragrant flowers undercut with the sizzling of cooking spices. Kya felt her eyes straying back to Lin again and again. Bathed in the glow of the lanterns all around them, her eyes shimmering as they reflected the light, she looked ethereal. Kya gave up trying to look away from her.

“Lin?” She whispered.

As Lin turned to look back at her, Kya noted that the lines of her face were relaxed into a rare softness. “Yeah?” Her voice was deep and quiet. Kya couldn’t remember how they had gotten so close, barely a breath apart.

Kya locked eyes with her and lost herself in pools of green. Warmed by the air around her and the drink in her belly, Kya brushed aside her doubts and leaned in to press her lips to Lin’s. Her eyes fell shut as she drank in the sensation, as everything shifted into place and Lin moved against her and started to kiss her back for one perfect moment.

But only one.

They next moment, Lin had wrenched herself away and shot up onto her feet. Kya’s eyes snapped open in confusion and found Lin’s face flushed and written over with shock and confusion.

“I- I’m sorry, I can’t, that is, I’m not-” Lin stammered, averting her eyes and wrapping her arms around herself protectively as she turned away. “I can’t do this.”

“Lin, wait!” Before Kya could even get up from where she was sitting, Lin had bolted away and melted into the crowd.

“Lin!”

As she sat staring after her friend, the warmth inside her was replaced by a cold, numb feeling. She tucked her knees close to her chest and buried her face in her arms.

Over the next few weeks, Kya desperately tried to reach out to her friend, only to find her attempts thwarted at every turn. Lin would work late night shifts at the station and couldn’t be found and home. Wouldn’t answer the phone. Wouldn’t respond to her messages… Didn’t want to see her. Underneath relentless optimism and hope, Kya had always been prepared for the likelihood that Lin might not return her feelings. Rejection was never going to be easy, but at least she had known it was a possibility. But this? The possibility that Lin might sever their friendship, might not want to speak to her again? She had never seen it coming. Unable to do much else, she tended to her own wounded feelings, and waited.

Kya knew her mother worried about her. She never spoke about what had happened at the festival but couldn’t stop her mother from seeing when she returned that night, puffy-eyed and deflated. She tried to throw herself into her work, but often Kya felt like she was drifting through her days, like seaweed on the ocean, stagnating. The bustle and vibrance of Republic City slowly fading as she longed for something beyond the sights and sounds she had grown up with. These doubts had been gnawing at her for months, but now they were magnified tenfold, and she could no longer ignore them.

At a family dinner one night, Bumi regaled them with tales of his hijinks in bootcamp. Kya teased her food apart with her chopsticks, tuning out safely while the attention was on her brother. As she sensed a lull in the conversation, she looked up to find four pairs of eyes looking at her expectantly.

“Huh?”

“Mom asked if there was anything new was going on with you and your apprenticeship,” Bumi prompted.

“Oh. You know, same old same old.” She shrugged and brought a sea prune to her mouth, ending the conversation. The last thing she wanted to talk about right now was her quarter-life crisis.

“I have some news,” Tenzin piped up, crossing his chopsticks over his empty bowl and sitting with his back straight. “I… am in a relationship with someone.”

“That’s great, son!” Aang clapped the youngest child on the back heartily, causing him to lurch forward in surprise.

Kya snorted. At least someone’s love life was going smoothly. “Who’s the lucky girl?”

“It’s-” Tenzin cleared his throat and straightened again. “It’s Lin. Lin Beifong.”

Kya froze.

No. She had to have heard wrong. She vaguely registered her mother shooting her a concerned glance while her father and Bumi bombarded Tenzin in equal parts encouragement and curiosity. The same cold, numb sensation she had felt after the festival seized her once again. The memory of Lin’s lips against hers, and she _had_ kissed back, hadn’t she, if only for a second? It was barely a month ago. What could have happened in that time to change things so drastically? Suddenly, white-hot anger flared up inside her. And why Tenzin, of all people? Tenzin, who had always been favored by their father, even if it was accidental. Tenzin, who was straightlaced and perfect and had found his purpose in life so surely at only nineteen, embraced his destiny as the future of the Air Nation. Tenzin, who was everything she was not.

As the anger simmered away, clarity took its place.

When Kya spoke, her voice was controlled. “Actually, I have some news too.”

Everyone looked to her expectantly.

“I’m leaving to travel the Earth kingdom. I need a change. I’m not sure what I want to do next, but I can’t figure it out here.”

Katara blinked at her, startled. “Are you sure, sweetie? You have so much going for you here, and Master Sana tells me you’re quickly becoming her best healer.”

She met her mother’s eyes in a small apology. “I’m sure, mom.”

A pause hung in the air for a long moment. Katara eventually broke the silence.

“Ok, sweetie, if that’s what you want, we support you.” Her mother smiled and squeezed her arm from across the table.

“Your mom and I will always be here for you, and we’re so proud of you,” Her father added, leaning over to pull her into a warm hug.

A week later, Kya set out with nothing but a small traveling bag and the certainty that, somehow, the path ahead would lead her exactly where she needed to go.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> They're still figuring things out, poor babes. But in the meantime, Kya go get you some of that personal development and character growth girl!
> 
> I changed the rating to T because Kya's thoughts came out slightly thirstier than I intended, oops


End file.
